Export transshipment controls require tracked seals, bonded movement, customs verification, and direct containerisation before final third-country export.
Export transshipment of Bangladesh cargo to third countries through Nhava Sheva Port may occur by authorised road or rail routes in closed conveyances or containers. Shipping lines or authorised representatives must file a Bill of Transshipment, declare an Electronic Cargo Tracking System seal, and furnish a specific or general bond for twice the goods' value. At the Customs Freight Station, the Stuffing Superintendent verifies seal integrity, supervises direct transfer into the export container, seals it, and permits movement to the port under preventive escort. Electronic trip reports enable bond credit or cancellation and flag unauthorised unsealing.

Security deposit requirement removed; exchanges must adopt SOP for previously deposited funds and notify listed issuers.
Requirement to deposit a 1% security deposit of issue size with the designated stock exchange under the ICDR Regulations has been dispensed with and the Master Circular on issuance of No Objection Certificate for that deposit is withdrawn with immediate effect. Stock exchanges must jointly frame an SOP for release of security deposits deposited before the amendment, notify listed companies, publish the change on their websites, and amend bye laws, rules and regulations as necessary to implement the circular.

Concessional import duty: MOOWR units may simultaneously avail IGCR benefits subject to conditions, time limits and documentation.
MOOWR units may simultaneously avail concessional import duty under the IGCR Rules provided they comply with additional conditions in the concessional notification and IGCR Rules, including time-limits, documentation and periodical accountal, in addition to MOOWR obligations. The expression "for use in manufacture of cellular mobile phones" denotes intended manufacturing use of components and does not limit eligibility to final manufacturers; intermediate MOOWR units importing components for value addition and supplying resultant goods to final mobile phone manufacturers qualify for IGCR concessional rates if all conditions are met.

Automation transition for concessional duty imports: manual IGCR-3 filing permitted during transition, online filing required thereafter.
Importers facing difficulties with the automated IGCR portal may file the IGCR-3 monthly statement manually before jurisdictional officers until 31.01.2025; electronic filing becomes mandatory from February 2025. An Excel utility for filing IGCR-3/IGCR-3A will be provided by the systems wing by 15 December 2024 to facilitate electronic submission for current and past periods, and administrations should issue public guidance and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

E-way bill verification procedures require prompt inspection, documented detention, security-based release, and limited penalties for minor clerical errors.
E-way bill verification requires production of prescribed transport documents and permits vehicle interception for document verification or goods inspection. Failure to produce documents or a need for inspection requires forms for statement, inspection order, reporting and physical verification. Detention requires an order and notice specifying tax and penalty, while release may follow payment or a bond with bank-guarantee security. Confiscation proceedings require notice and an opportunity of hearing. Minor clerical e-way bill discrepancies, where material particulars remain correct, do not warrant detention and instead attract the prescribed penalty and weekly reporting.

Mandatory import qualifiers for coking and non coking coal improve declaration detail and facilitate assessment and policy formulation.
Additional mandatory qualifiers must be declared in the Bill of Entry for imports of coking and non coking coal, identifying coking coal by ash percentage bands and non coking coal by specified gross calorific value (GCV) ranges as set out in the Annexure, to improve assessment quality, reduce queries and aid policy formulation.

Customs bonded warehouse licensing is digitised through ICEGATE, enabling online applications, transfer requests, monthly returns and jurisdictional processing.
Digitisation of customs bonded warehouse licensing through the ICEGATE Warehouse Module enables authorised signatories to file online licence applications with supporting documents. The module also permits online requests for transfer of warehoused goods and uploading of monthly returns. Applications are routed to the proper officer for the selected Customs jurisdiction and processed through the Customs back-end system. Specified port codes within Mumbai Customs Zone III receive and process licence applications, with designated support channels available for module-related grievances.

Default treatment clarified: CRAs must verify funds, reasons and escrow payments before downgrading after payment failures.
Where non-payment of principal and/or interest arises from circumstances beyond the issuer's control (such as incorrect/dormant investor account details or account freezes), a CRA must confirm availability of adequate funds with the issuer and verify proof of payment failure, the specified reasons for failure, and that required amounts were paid into a separate escrow account on the due date; the CRA must, on the same day as its rating press release, furnish specified payment and failure details to Stock Exchanges, Depositories and the Debenture Trustee for dissemination.

'C' form issuance for ENA and liquor requires utilisation verification, electronic generation, data upload, and maintained issuance records.
'C' forms for specified goods are confined to re-sale or use in manufacture or processing of those goods. For ENA and liquor, dealers must apply to the Special Commissioner with permits, invoices, proof of movement and required information. The application requires verification by the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise regarding lawful utilisation, accounting of ENA, and supply of liquor to the Telangana Beverages Corporation. Approved forms are generated electronically, uploaded to TINXSYS, and recorded in physical and electronic registers.

Interest and penalty waiver requires full tax payment, withdrawal of pending challenges, and compliance with prescribed electronic procedures.
Section 128A grants conditional waiver of interest, penalty, or both for eligible section 73 demands relating to financial years 2017-18 to 2019-20, subject to full payment of tax and electronic application. Applications require withdrawal of pending challenges concerning the relevant demand. Composite demands require payment of all tax, including tax for ineligible periods and erroneous refunds, although waiver remains limited to eligible-period demands other than erroneous refunds. Input tax credit no longer payable under retrospective time-limit relief may be deducted where the credit was denied solely on that ground. Failure to pay residual liabilities or additional tax determined in departmental proceedings voids the waiver.

Input tax credit time-limit relief enables retrospective claims, rectification of eligible unappealed demands, while restricting refunds of paid tax.
Retrospective extension of the input tax credit availment period permits credit for specified earlier financial years in returns filed up to 30 November 2021 and provides a later claim mechanism after revocation of cancelled registration. Pending investigation, adjudication, appeal and revision proceedings must apply the revised entitlement. Unappealed demand-confirming orders may be rectified through the special procedure where credit was denied for breach of the earlier time limit but is now eligible. No refund is available for tax paid or credit reversed under the earlier restriction, except appeal pre-deposits where the appeal succeeds.

Common adjudicating authority centralizes GST show cause notices to ensure uniform adjudication across interconnected taxpayers.
Interconnected show cause notices involving multiple taxpayers shall be adjudicated by the Joint Commissioner of Taxpayer Services with state wide jurisdiction regardless of amount; the Joint Commissioner of the district where the noticee with the highest demand has its principal place of business will adjudicate all related notices, and where involved taxpayers are in the same district but under different authorities, the district's Taxpayer Services Joint Commissioner will adjudicate all SCNs. Connected penalty notices accompanying sections 73/74/76 notices are included.

Condonation of delay in filing tax-option forms: authorities may admit applications subject to specified eligibility conditions.
The CBDT delegates power to admit and decide condonation applications for delay in filing Form No. 10-IC and Form No. 10-ID: Principal Commissioners/Commissioners for delays up to one year, and Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Directors General for delays exceeding one year. Applications must show timely filing of the return, election of the relevant tax option in the ITR, and reasonable cause with genuine hardship; no application is maintainable beyond a three-year limitation and authorities should aim to dispose within six months.

Condonation of delay under section 119(2)(b) permits delegated officers to admit late Form filings subject to reasonable-cause conditions.
Condonation under section 119(2)(b) authorises Principal Commissioners/Commissioners to admit delays up to 365 days and Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Director Generals to admit delays beyond 365 days for late filing of Form Nos. 9A, 10, 10B and 10BB, subject to satisfaction of reasonable cause and genuine hardship. Applications must be made within three years from the end of the relevant assessment year (for applications filed on or after the Circular), should be disposed of within six months where possible, and delay in respect of Form 10 additionally requires that accumulated amounts be invested or deposited in modes specified under section 11(5).

Harmonisation of export policy: DGFT proposes an 8 digit ITC(HS) Schedule II and invites comments by 27 Nov 2024.
DGFT proposes to replace description based export policy with a harmonised Schedule II using 8 digit ITC(HS) codes aligned to Finance Act, 2024 tariff codes; an updated draft for Chapters 01-98 is circulated for consultation, comments invited by 27.11.2024, after which the draft will be finalised and notified. The draft preserves chapter level Free/Restricted/Prohibited classifications and commodity specific policy and licensing conditions referencing CITES, Wild Life (Protection) Act, APEDA registration, pre shipment inspection, health and origin certificates, and specialised certification regimes where applicable.

Registration of foreign food manufacturers now required for specified food categories; imports permitted only from registered facilities.
Foreign facilities exporting milk and milk products; meat and meat products (including poultry, fish and their products); egg powder; infant food; and nutraceuticals must be registered on FSSAI's ReFoM portal via their Competent Authority, after which FSSAI assigns a unique registration number; imports of these categories will be permitted only from facilities registered on ReFoM, and customs officials must verify facility details in the import clearance system against the portal while FSSAI continuously updates the registry based on Competent Authority submissions.

Standard Input Output Norms notified for Clobetasol Propionate, setting input allowance of Betamethasone under chemical products.
A new Standard Input Output Norms entry SION A-3682 has been notified for Clobetasol Propionate under Chemical and Allied Products, specifying Betamethasone as the permitted input at an allowance of 0.95 kg per 1 kg of exported Clobetasol Propionate, issued under powers of the Foreign Trade Policy to govern exporter entitlement and related compliance.

Classification of clear float glass: tin layer from manufacturing does not constitute an absorbent coating, affects customs tariff placement.
Clear float glass bears an inherent tin layer from the float process, but that manufacturing residue does not qualify as an absorbent, reflecting or non-reflecting layer (a microscopically thin applied metal or metal-oxide coating). Therefore clear, non-wired, non-coloured, non-reflective, non-tinted float glass with only the inherent tin layer and no additional metal-oxide coating is to be classified as float glass without such a layer under the applicable tariff entry.

Technical Member appointment in GST Appellate Tribunal invites online applications under prescribed eligibility and selection rules.
Applications are invited for appointment to 02 posts of Technical Member (State) in the GST Appellate Tribunal State Benches for West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Kolkata. Eligibility is governed by the CGST Act and the GSTAT Rules, with selection through a Search-cum-Selection Committee and appointment by the Central Government. Candidates must apply online within the notified period, and late or incomplete applications are liable to rejection.

InvITs: Exemption for employee benefit trust units, standard quarterly reporting, and aligned distribution timelines with unclaimed funds process.
Units allotted to an employee benefit trust for a unit based employee benefit scheme are exempt from the lock in and preferential allotment restrictions in Chapter 7, per new paragraph 7.6.4 and a proviso to 7.7.1; BIA will specify the standardized quarterly report and compliance certificate formats for Investment Managers and trustees; distributions timelines are aligned with Regulation 18(6)(c), and unclaimed distributions must be transferred to an Escrow 'Unpaid Distribution Account' within seven working days of expiry of the distribution timeline.